Worst NFL Fans: Whose Team Has the Nastiest Crowd?
Buffalo Bills fans have been through some rough times. Since 2000, they haven't experienced a playoff appearance and in that time they've only enjoyed a season of more than eight wins only once.
Some of those recent struggles turned into some camp criticism from a couple teenagers on Tuesday. Coach Chan Gailey wasn't happy about it, saying, "HEY! You see this group of guys that you loathe and ridicule? YOU CAN'T HAVE THEIR AUTOGRAPH!"
This got us thinking. What teams have some of the nastiest NFL fans? Ya know, those fans who would show up to their own training camp and ridicule their own players. Here's the top 10.
No. 10: New Orleans Saints
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It wasn't long ago that New Orleans fans were still pulling their paper bags from the closet. The Saints fans made that tradition famous by scrawling "Aints" on the front while watching abysmal football. Just five years ago this city endured a 3-13 season.
Of course, with a Super Bowl, one of the league's best quarterbacks and just three years of under .500 records since 2000, the Aints are about to drop off the list.
No. 9: Arizona Cardinals
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This scene at an Arizona Cardinals game is few and far between. Because the city had experienced just one playoff appearance (1998) since the franchise moved from St. Louis in 1988, NFL fans were conditioned to be Dallas Cowboy fans. The Cowboys were in the midst of their dynasty of the mid '90s while the Cardinals were struggling to be a .500 team.
Even since Arizona's Super Bowl win in 2008, the fan base doesn't seem to be as loyal as it should be with inconsistent attendance numbers.
No. 8: Dallas Cowboys
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As a part of being "America's Team," the Cowboys have hoards of fair-weather fans who will cast stones at the first sign of no championship. All of that stems from the massive amount of success Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith, and Michael Irvin spoiled the franchise with during the '90s.
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No. 7: San Diego Chargers
4 of 10
Before Phillip Rivers and Drew Brees came to town, the city has been in a love-hate relationship with the Chargers. All smiles during the great times (1992-95) and local blackouts in the bad.
A lack of playoff football from 1996-2003 soured this fanbase that's always looking for small reasons to doubt Rivers.
No. 6: Jacksonville Jaguars
5 of 10
A playoff berth in year two of the franchise got Jaguar fans pumped about the future. But a couple losing seasons right after showed the fickle feelings the city has toward its NFL team.
Only two winning seasons since 2000 have resulted in local TV blackouts becoming a problem. Three of the NFL's 10 blacked-out games in 2007 were in Jacksonville.
No. 5: Buffalo Bills
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It wouldn't be fair to leave off the team that sparked this list in the first place. Tuesday's camp incident of fans heckling QB Trent Edwards and a couple others just shows the dissension that has brewed in Buffalo over the years. Again, it's hard to fault them for it.
The Bills haven't been to the playoffs since 1999 and during the franchise's brightest days (1988-1993) it couldn't bring home the Vince Lombardi trophy despite making the Super Bowl in four consecutive years (90-93).
No. 4: Philadelphia Eagles
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Donovan McNabb is no longer in Philly for a couple reasons. One of the big ones, though, is the fact that he was run out of town because fans weren't happy enough with double digit wins and a playoff appearance. They wanted Super Bowl rings.
When McNabb became the full-time starter after his rookie season in 1999, he led the Eagles to the playoffs eight out of 10 years, including a Super Bowl. On top of that, the fans once booed Santa Clause out of the stadium.
No. 3: Cleveland Browns
8 of 10
There's no doubt that a lot of cities would have a lot of venom if their NFL franchise was taken away from them. Of course, that 's what happened to the Browns back in 1995.
The Browns moved to Baltimore, became the Ravens, and forced Cleveland to go through life without a football team for three seasons. Perhaps that was better than watching the Browns...
Because since football's return to Cleveland, the Browns are 59-117 with only one playoff appearance. In fact, all the losing forced "Dawg Pound Mike," a season ticket holder who is a part of the team's "Dawg Pound," to protest the team last season, which resulted in a meeting with the organization.
No. 2: Oakland Raiders
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Regardless of what California city the Raiders have played in (Los Angeles or Oakland), the NFL's most fearsome group of fans has followed. Dubbed the "Black Hole," these are some of the craziest looking and acting fans in the league. Can you blame them?
Since Jon Gruden and Rich Gannon walked away as coach and QB, the team hasn't had much to be happy about. Oakland hasn't won more than five games in a season since its 11-5 record in 2002.
No. 1: Detroit Lions
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The Lions have mastered the art of losing, and they have conditioned their fans to roll with the punches. The famous paper-bag look didn't start here, but they haven't had any problem borrowing the idea from New Orleans. They haven't won double digit games since 1995 and have only been to the playoffs three times since then.
Meanwhile, the Lions have managed to botch their first overall pick a few times and have five seasons of three wins or less since '95. With Detroit famous for playing on Thanksgiving, it's one of the few places you will see so many frowns on such a pleasing holiday.
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